GHOSTBUSTERS: PPE 4
by Q-CREW
Summary: Remember the ghost train from Ghostbusters 2? Well, the guys sure do, because it's back and tearing up the city! Plus: Egon and Janine, together at last?


When bridges, like the Brooklyn Bridge, were built in the old days, workers who fell into the wet concrete of the foundations were often left buried there lest their removal create a problem structurally later on. When the drainage ditch that gave Canal Street its name was filled in, a bridge crossing over it on Broadway was buried with it. When a subway line becomes defunct, it's sealed off and the structures there are left to rot. Sometimes, it's just easier to leave things where they are and build around them, especially in a teeming metropolis like New York City.

One day, humankind will learn that sometimes what you bury…won't always stay that way.

Deep below First Avenue lays an abandoned tunnel. Somehow, light manages to filter through the structures above to illuminate various parts of the old tracks. But otherwise, it sits in complete and total darkness, forgotten by all those who dwell above it.

But today, there is some movement on the tracks that, for once, doesn't belong to the rats or cockroaches that usually dwell down there. No, this form is decidedly human…or was. A skeleton wearing tattered and dirty coveralls, a t-shirt and a cap whose design dates back to the early 20th century lumbers along the tracks carrying a pickaxe. A faint glow envelopes its exposed bones. More than likely, this creature was one of the men who painstakingly worked to create New York's now expansive subway system and became the victim of a tragic construction accident.

However, he is not the only ghost in this particular tunnel. He looks up as a bright light fills the darkness and draws ever closer to him. His target is in sight. Had he any lips, he would be smiling.

* * *

**GHOSTBUSTERS:  
PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS  
#4**

* * *

**THE FIREHOUSE**

Sometimes, structures aren't the only things that are buried.

Janine sits at her desk, resting her head in her right hand with her left extended out to the side on the desk, one of her long nails tapping the top. She stares at the doors at the other end of the vacant garage bay with an angry expression on her face. Beneath her is a women's magazine, opened to an article titled "_BEING AGGRESSIVE; Putting Your Foot Down to Make That Blind Man Yours._"

The doors begin to open to reveal Ecto-1 waiting in front of them. The car drives in and stops in the center of the garage bay, the doors closing behind it. The Ghostbusters emerge; each one a little slime-coated and with tired expressions on their faces.

"That's it, Ray! That's the LAST McDonald's with a play land I do!" Winston declares to the passing Ray with as much anger as his fatigue will allow.

"Geeze, Winston, it wasn't even really Ronald! It was just a statue," Peter comments as Ray grabs the full traps out of the back of Ecto, completely oblivious to anything being said.

"It was a clown! I HATE clowns!" The four men head towards the back of the garage bay to perform their various duties with the hopes of getting some rest upon completion.

"I think I'm gonna nap for a month," Ray mutters in a daze.

"I'll join you. Just don't snore," Peter says. Egon runs his finger through a slime patch on his sleeve.

"I think I'll take a moment to analyze this ectoplasm before I run the monthly diagnostic on the containment…" Egon stops short as he looks up to see Janine standing firmly directly in front of him, looking up at him angrily. "…unit?"

"Oh no you're not!" Janine states, jamming her finger into his chest. The others stop to look at them.

"Uh…I'm not?"

"No! For years now I've tried to get you to open up, but every time I get close you pull a 180 and go right back to how things were. Well, I'm sick of it, mister! You are gonna march upstairs right now, take a shower, get dressed, and take me out to a nice restaurant where we're gonna have the first of many, many, MANY dates to come! You got that!"

* * *

Egon walks with a dumb expression on his face. He wears slacks, a coat, a sweater vest, dress-shirt and bowtie. Janine clings happily to his arm, leaning into his body as they go, thankful she wore her nicer work suit today.

"Oh, Egon! Tonight is going to be WONDERFUL!" A gulp is his only reply, the nervousness he feels growing in intensity as they near the restaurant.

* * *

"**DATE FRIGHT"**

A tale of romance and the supernatural brought to you and supervised by  
CHRIS BUCHNER

With the artistic talents of  
ROLANDO MUNOZ

Featuring finishes by  
BEN KING

Presented in full color by  
ADAM BESTLER

Unreadable without  
BEN KING  
on letters

Given the once-over by  
BEN KING & DAN LIBERG

Topped off by  
FRITZ BAUGH  
who also handles the continuity

None of which would be possible without characters created by  
DAN AYKROYD & HAROLD RAMIS

* * *

**5TH AVENUE**

As the sun starts to set, the citizens of the city bustle about their daily business on the busy street, unaware at how much their typical day is about to have a very unusual ending. Without warning, the street shakes throwing some people off balance.

"What is that! An earthquake!" a woman asks, clinging tightly to her boyfriend.

"In New York? No way!" he tells her.

"Actually," starts a nerdy looking man who stands near them while struggling to pick up the papers the tremors made him drop, "New York is situated over several fault lines; but unlike California the tectonic activity is quite miniscule and can barely be felt upon the shifting of the plates." Another tremor hits, causing the man to drop all his papers again. The boyfriend tries to keep his balance while letting his girl land on her rear. She looks up at the nerd angrily.

"Yeah, I'm BARELY feeling it!" she growls. Cars swerve as pavement in the middle of the street explodes outward. Train tracks appear hanging in midair, creating a path for the spectral locomotive that rides them.

The train is an old New York Central that derailed back in 1920, killing hundreds of people. It had called the tunnels it ran home since. That is, until, the ghostly skeleton hijacked it. He leans his head out of a window in the engine, looking down at the people looking up in awe at it. If not for the loud noises of the train, one could hear the wicked dry laughter coming from his mouth.

* * *

**THE FIRHOUSE**

The phone rings, several lines lit up at once. Winston, manning Janine's desk while she's gone, reaches over and picks it up.

"Ghostbusters. There's a what? Doing what? Where? Alright, we'll get right on it." Winston stands and hangs up the phone as he uses his free hand to press the button to activate the call bell. Within seconds of the loud noise filling the firehouse, Ray and Peter slide down one of the poles.

"What's up?" Ray asks as Winston runs over to them.

"There's a flying ghost train tearing up the Upper East Side."

"The Upper East Side? Isn't that where…"

"Yup," Peter says as he quickly gets inside Ecto-1.

"Oh boy. I'll meet you guys there!" Ray turns and heads back upstairs while Winston climbs into the driver's seat. Seconds later, Ecto-1 takes off out of the firehouse.

* * *

**UPPER EAST SIDE**

Aykroyd's Restaurant is a fairly upscale restaurant, fitting in with the nearby Park Avenue crowd's standards but without being totally inaccessible to the more common man. You may not need a reservation, but try to come in without a jacket or tie and you'll find yourself at the nearest deli.

The restaurant is full of tables with intimate seating. Plants and paintings adorn the walls and red carpeting covers the entire floor. The waiting staff goes around lighting the candles on the tables to create their famed romantic atmosphere as the city grows darker outside. Two of the patrons enjoying the atmosphere are Janine and Egon.

Since the day they met, there has always been an attraction. However, while Janine actively pursued it, Egon always withdrew back or ignored it. There have been those moments where his feelings would come out or be revealed, but they never lasted. This has frustrated Janine to no end and wishes for nothing more than to finally resolve it one way or another.

Egon, however, is always in a state of constant confliction. Dedicated to science for as long as he could remember, he never had the time nor desire to pursue a social relationship. Or develop people skills, for that matter. It was only through common interest that he became friends with Ray. And Peter? Someone had to help him pass through college. Enter Janine Melnitz; attractive, brainy, and totally into him. No girl has EVER been into him. Deny it as much as he try, he found himself returning her affections. As best as he could, anyway. Of all the strange and new places science has taken him, never has he journeyed to a place as confusing as the human heart. As much as he put it off, he knew it was going to have to be addressed sooner or later.

"Oh, Egon, isn't this place lovely?" Janine asks as she swirls her finger on the rim of her glass, looking at him dreamily across the table.

"Um…yes. Quite," Egon responds, obviously uncomfortable.

"And what do you think about me, Egon?"

"Erm, well, I think…uh…" For some reason, Egon found his mind going totally blank. This was Janine, for crying out loud. He talked to her every day, but now, suddenly, he can't? She was looking for a compliment; that much was obvious. He searches for something…anything, then recalls something Peter told him before they left:

"_The way to a woman's heart is to compliment her. Granted, this is Janine so we don't have much to work with and you'll have to lie a lot. Tell her you like her hair. Tell her you like her shoes. I dunno, tell her she has nice yams."_

"Um, uh, I like your hair. You have nice shoes…um…" Janine leans forward over the table and smiles as she hears Egon compliment her, a good first step. "…and you have nice, uh, yams…" Janine's smile quickly fades and Egon realizes the mistake he made as soon as it left his mouth.

"WHAT!" Janine demands before a realization hits her. "D'oh! PETER!"

"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have said that. It's, well, I don't know…" Janine sits up, perturbed, crossing her arms.

"Okay, what gives? I know you like me, hell, you've even SAID it! So why the hell do you keep fighting it? Why is this so hard?"

"Well, I've spent most of my life dedicated to science which resulted in little time to explore the social behavior rituals experienced by most Homo sapiens outside of a laboratory environment…"

"Oh, I get it; it's just easier for you to study being human than just BEING human."

"No…well, yes…it's just that love…the emotions involved with it are most unscientific and illogical…"

"Of course they are! Egon, there isn't a mathematical equation to understanding love. There isn't some formula or sample you can put under a microscope…believe me, a lot of us would love for that to be the case. Love just…is. It doesn't always make sense, but when two people feel the same way you have to embrace it or miss out on one of life's greatest adventures." She reaches across the table and puts her hand on top of his. He looks down at it briefly, then back up at her. "You've conquered science; don't you think it's time to move on to some new, uncharted territory?"

"I…" Egon starts but never finishes as the restaurant begins to shake. Waiters are thrown off balance and drinks are spilled. Paintings fall and loud clangs can be heard coming from the kitchen area. Egon and Janine look around, confused, as they hold onto the table.

"What's going on!" Janine asks. The carpeting in the center of the restaurant begins to rise and move. Suddenly, the smokestack bursts through, carving up the ground like a shark's fin in water. The rest of the train rises up and blows through the front of the building. The ghost driving it can be heard laughing maniacally. Egon and Janine both watch as the last pieces of the wall fall, and then Janine turns her attention to Egon as he bolts from the table, never taking his eyes off the train.

"Yeah, sure, right, of course. Typical," Janine says depressed, slumping in her chair against the table and swirling around her drink in her hand.

* * *

Egon runs outside to see the train veering towards some high rises in the distance. Behind him comes a familiar wail, and he turns to find Ecto-1 pulling up to the curb next to him.

"Guess you know what's happening," Winston says as he and Peter get out of the car.

"I could hazard a guess. Where's Ray?" Peter points up as the wind begins to kick up around them.

"Right there." Above them descends Ecto-2; a hybrid between a motorcycle and a helicopter created by the Ghostbusters. Ray pilots it down to mere feet above the ground, looking at them from the front seat and waving while keeping his other hand on the handlebars.

"Anybody need a lift?" he asks.

* * *

After grabbing some gear from Ecto-1, Egon straps on a helmet and is up in the air in Ecto-2 behind Ray. Peter and Winston follow on the ground in Ecto-1 as they pursue the train and it's endless destruction of high rises and streets.

"We got the train below, Egon," Ray says. The train runs on its floating tracks directly below them, smashing into and through buildings as it goes.

"Good, Ray," Egon says, not looking up from his PKE Meter. "Try to get us in close, I'm afraid this will have to be delicate."

"_Delicate? Just blast the damn thing!"_ Peter's voice says over the headsets in the helmets both Egon and Ray wear.

"_It's not that simple, Peter,"_ Egon responds over the radio in Ecto-1. "_I'm detecting two distinctive PKE traces emanating from the train. I also recognize this particular locomotive; it's the one from the tunnels under First Avenue we encountered while trying to find access to Vigo's river of slime."_

"The one that ran me over!" Winston exclaims. "That clinches it, blast the thing!"

"Egon's right, guys," Ray chimes in. "The train was a localized spirit. Basically, it was benign. If it was dangerous it would've been a lot more solidified when we encountered it like it is now."

"Right," Egon agrees. "This other PKE reading is most likely another entity that possessed it and took control."

"_A ghost possessed by a ghost? You gotta be kiddin'…"_ Winston groans over the radio.

"Afraid not," Egon affirms.

"That's why it wouldn't be right for us to just blast an unwitting pawn," Ray adds.

"Excuse me," Peter starts, dumbfounded, "when did we go from Ghost_busters_ to being the Paranormal Ethics Coalition of America?"

"Get me in close to the caboose, Ray. I have a plan," Egon says.

"Roger." Ray maneuvers Ecto-2 down to the back of the train, keeping as close as he dares considering at any second it could veer through another building. Egon unclips his seatbelt and begins to rise out of his seat. Ray looks back at him. "You sure about this?"

"No," Egon admits. He braces himself with one foot up on the side of Ecto-2. He moves himself back and forth, counting and questioning his sanity before pushing off and flying through the air. He flies through the caboose door and lands hard on the translucent floor inside with a grunt.

"Need a hand?" a man's voice ask. Egon looks up, confused to find a translucent hand in front of his face offering him aid. He looks around and finds the car full of several ghosts; each one wearing slightly tattered clothing from the 1920s era. Immediately, Egon realizes who they are.

"The passengers!" The man in front of Egon stoops down and helps him to his feet.

"Are you here to stop the hijacker?" one of the women asks.

"Um, yes. Tell me; why haven't you all tried?" Egon asks as he tries to keep his balance, the train ramming another building.

"We've tried," another man says, "but we can't leave the car, apparently."

"We're as trapped here as we were in that tunnel," another woman adds.

"We just want to go back to the way things were," the first man states. "The tunnel wasn't much better, but we don't like being a party to all this wanton destruction." Egon looks down as he feels a tugging on his pant leg. He finds a young girl, no more than 8 or 9 in a pretty dress looking up at him pleadingly.

"Please help us, mister. We want to go home."

"I'll do what I can," Egon says, heading for the other end of the car. He looks back to see the little girl stand over with her parents. His eyes scan the car to see a two more couples embracing as they look at him. This fills him with a renewed determination and gives them a nod.

Egon takes off, running through the cars of the train and receiving stares from its deceased passengers while bracing himself against the shakes from the train's collisions. Egon makes it to the tender car and climbs up the ladder attached to its side. When he reaches the top he struggles against the wind to hold on to the loose ghostly coal below him.

"Most unscientific!" he states to himself.

* * *

Up above, Ray looks down at the train to see Egon's progress. "Egon's almost to the engine," he says in to his headset. On the street below in Ecto-1, Peter leans out of the passenger's window with the radio and his proton gun; a precaution in case Egon's plan, whatever it is, doesn't work.

"We're ready down here," he says.

* * *

Egon pulls his positron rifle and throws himself off the tender. He lands and turns on his proton pack. The skeleton hears the hum of the pack and turns from the controls. Egon notices another ghostly form on the floor bound up with some kind of supernatural rope struggling to get free; judging by the ghost's attire most likely the real engineer. The skeleton grabs a squared shovel from next to the boiler and swings at Egon. Egon jumps back being caught by surprise, and instinctively raises his arms as he does so. The shovel misses him but catches the hose connecting his gun to his pack, slicing it.

"Uh-oh…" Egon gulps. The skeleton raises the shovel up, ready to strike, until the driverless train crashes into a building. Egon is thrown off balance but the skeleton still stands. He brings the shovel down over Egon, but Egon quickly uses his rifle to deflect it. The skeleton continues to press it down into Egon as the train swerves and rams through another building, threatening to shake Egon up enough to give the skeleton the upper hand.

* * *

Ray watches as the train shakily turns and rams through the building before diving through one next to it. "The train's out of control!" he declares. In the street below, Winston swerves Ecto-1 to avoid the falling debris of the buildings as they try to keep up.

"How can you possibly tell!" Peter asks.

* * *

Sweat begins to form on Egon's face as the skeleton continues to push down, not hampered by little things such as a need for rest. Egon's true power lays in his mind, not in physical prowess; a fact he quietly curses about to himself as the shovel draws closer to his head. The engineer looks on angrily at the scene before him; angry at his situation and angry at his inability to do anything to rectify it. That is until he realizes how close the skeleton is to him.

With a bit of effort, he positions himself on his non-corporeal hip and kicks his legs out into the skeleton's. The skeleton stumbles off-balance and Egon is able to force him off and back. Tripping over the engineer's legs, the skeleton lands on the floor and drops his shovel.

Egon quickly gets to his feet and reaches back. The skeleton moves quickly too. The sound of a couple of bones breaking fills the engine's cab as he flips over backwards to his feet, looking angrily at Egon just before he lunges with murder in his hollow eye sockets. Egon pulls his arms forward, his hands grasping the ghost trap that was clipped to his belt. He lets the pedal fall to the floor and steps on it. The trap opens and the skeleton is caught in the beam, being sucked inside. The doors close and the trap sizzles and smokes.

The engineer levitates up off the engine's floor as his bonds fade away and disperse. "Thank you," he says with a big smile on his face as he begins to fade and disappear. Egon returns the smile with one of his own, but it quickly fades as he realizes that with the engineer's disappearance, that means the train must be returning back to the tunnel. He looks around to discover sure enough that the train was fading as well. Within seconds, Egon finds himself plummeting to Central Park below.

As he falls, thoughts race through his mind. Thoughts about his life. Thoughts about Janine. Thoughts about those people on the train. Thoughts about the little girl. Thoughts he has no rational idea why he's having. In his career as a Ghostbuster, he's face down death many times with his compatriots and never experienced the phenomenon of his life flashing before his eyes. So, why today? What makes this brush with death different from any other? Could it perhaps be this isn't just a mere brush, but rather the real thing? Or maybe it's that the events of the last 24 hours have given him something to think about; something that may be too late to change.

However, all those thoughts quickly come to an end as his mind snaps back to reality in time to see Ecto-2 swoop up under him to catch his body on the wing. Egon quickly grabs hold of the edge so as not to be blown off and makes a grab for the falling ghost trap, catching the hose. He looks over at Ray who flashes him a thumbs-up as he starts to bring Ecto-2 down to the ground.

"Thanks, Ray!" Egon shouts over the wind.

"Ya know, if you wanted to be dropped somewhere all you had to do was ask!" Ray quips.

"In that case, drop me off at the restaurant! There's something I have to do!"

* * *

Janine stands outside the destroyed restaurant as Ecto-1 and Ecto-2 pull up in their own respective manners. "Get your ghost?" she asks.

"You could say that," Peter answers getting out of the car. Ray hovers down enough to allow Egon to jump off the wing. As soon as he lands, he pulls it up higher into the air to avoid blocking traffic. Egon heads over to Janine, passing Peter the trap, looking unsure.

"Have fun?" she asks him.

"Janine…"

"Yes?"

"Something happened up there that made me realize…well, it got me thinking…and you were right. I've been fighting it and I probably shouldn't have but…I mean, it's all new to me and you'll have to help me through it…" Janine puts a hand to his face to stop him from stumbling.

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say…I want to do the most illogical thing I've ever done," he forces himself to say before moving in and kissing Janine. Winston and Peter stand next to Ecto-1, looking on in stunned silence.

"Hey, hey, hey! Get a room!" Peter quips, recovering from the surprise.

"It's always the quiet ones," Winston says, nudging Peter's arm.

"Long overdue!" Ray chimes in over Ecto's radio. In what seems like a blissful eternity to both of them, Egon and Janine part and look at each other.

"Oh, Egon!" Janine exclaims. Peter holds up the smoking ghost trap.

"Alright, alright…what's say we dump the mushy stuff and get this sucker away?"

"Sounds good to me," Winston says as he opens the door and climbs back into Ecto-1. Janine and Egon start towards the car with their arms around each other as Peter heads towards the back of the car to store the trap. He looks up and the street sign catches his notice; E75TH ST.

_The East 70s…?_ he thinks. He knew where they are, but he just didn't realize how close they really were. He turns to look back at Egon and Janine being happy. Well, Janine being happy and whatever passes as it for Egon. He turns back to look at the sign and sighs. Winston's voice snaps him back to reality.

"Hey, Pete!" Peter turns to see him leaning out of the window. "You coming or what, man?"

"Uh, no…I just remembered an errand I needed to run up here," Peter responds, opening the back of the car and throwing the trap in. "I'll catch the train back." He shuts the door and Winston waves as he pulls his head back inside.

"Alright, see you back at the firehouse!" With that, Ecto pulls off and Peter watches as it disappears around a corner before turning back to the sign. He stares at it and sighs, wondering if he should do what he contemplates doing.

* * *

**E75TH STREET**

A knock comes at the apartment door, and the resident proceeds over to open it. Upon doing so, Peter is found on the other side in the hall. He has a dopey smile on his face as he tries to hide his nervousness. Badly. Nervousness and a dose of that old Venkman charm.

"Um, hi… Uh, I was just in the neighborhood and I was…" The door starts to shut on him but he stops it with his hand. "Alright, alright!" The occupant opens the door again. "I'm sorry. Look, can we talk?" The occupant ponders for a while. A good, long while, before reluctantly deciding to open the door fully. Peter walks inside and the door closes behind him.

**THE END?**

* * *

GHOSTBUSTERS: PROFESSIONAL PARANORMAL ELIMINATORS VOL. 1 NO. 4 JANUARY, 2006 Q-CREW COMICS. GHOSTBUSTERS AND ALL RELATED CHARACTERS TM & © COLUMBIA PICTURES, INC. GHOSTBUSTERS: PPE TM & © Q-CREW COMICS. THIS STORY IS ENTIRELY FICTIONAL. ANY SIMILARITIES TO ANY LIVING OR DEAD PERSONS, BUSINESSES OR ORGANIZATIONS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. RELEASED THROUGH ATOMIC MEDIA GROUP. 


End file.
